Defining our times as racially charged is an understatement. In the midst of allegations of police violence, deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police, many of us, regardless of racial affiliation, can no longer breathe comfortably. Race is everywhere, and more than ever, it matters…
Race is not just on our TV screens, or in our impassionate conversations after-hours. Race is also at work, sitting down in oiur chairs, leaning over at the conference table, quietly humming under wraps of political correctedness and social protocol. Yet, race is at work, as shown by the wealth gap between blacks and whites. And many a times, we know it’s there, and we realize race is not working at work, yet we just don’t know how, or if, we should dare talking about it…
It’s like an insidious disease seeping into our quarterly meetings, affecting oiur productivity, fueling the unending corporate blame game. It’s the elephant in the room we’re all side-stepping, avoiding political comments or striving to learn golf instead of basketball.
Talking about race at work is still taboo. And so is admitting we are fundamentally different and the same, all at once. Even as CEOs and celebrities come out of the closet, the door remains tightly shut on the reality of Race in the workplace. As the Wage Gap is starring in its own feature movie at work, and Gender Equality is receiving rave reviews, one of the oldest plays at work, the Race one, is kept in the dark.
All the while, a silent volcano is threatening to erupt from the boardroom to the cubicle, peeling away at the refined, photo-shopped concept of Diversity.
Race matters, and it’s at work in our workplaces. And while we may all need to learn and address it appropriately, we need to talk about it…
The Corporate Sis.
